There's only one problem with this development narrative: it's not true. That's what Rodriguez told MTV News when we caught up with the filmmaker recently.

"I was working with Fox already on 'Predators' and I asked what other movies they had coming up," he explained. "It was 'Planet of the Apes' and other stuff. They said I might want to see 'Deadpool.' So I said, 'Sure, send it to me.' Almost just out of curiosity. And if I really, really wanted to do it, maybe I could figure out a way to do it. But that wasn't really going to happen. I just couldn't fit it in with other projects."

"People send you scripts all the time to read," he added. "They'll send the same script out to 20 different directors, but for some reason they write about it when I'm reading something. I'm like, 'Well, I was just reading it!' "

Rodriguez said his involvement with the project never progressed beyond reading the script and that he certainly did not enter into any sort of negotiation to direct the film.

"It's just a bizarre world these days with the Internet and websites needing to get traffic, they'll write a story about anything," he told us. "I didn't tell anyone I was reading it, but I guess it comes through the studio and someone finds out and it becomes a big deal. Then you almost feel pressure if I say I'm not doing it, I don't want anything bad reflected on the project."

"I just read it," he continued. "It's going to be a cool movie. I don't want people to think it's going to stink! Not at all. It's a great script and action-packed and it's a great character. But it's like, 'He turned it down! He dropped out!' Well, I was never in the project!"

It undoubtedly would have been interesting to see what Rodriguez would have done with script, as he's not only an avowed comics fan but is deeply familiar with Deadpool's various incarnations in the Marvel universe. But as the filmmaker explained, he' simply not very interested in directing material that's not his own ("Sin City," he lengthily explained, is an exception to that rule).

"It's harder to do stuff that preexists," he said. "The studios own it. It's work for hire. A lot of the stuff I do, I own. Even if they offered me 'Jonny Quest,' I still would have done 'Spy Kids.' I still read those scripts, but at the end of the day, I think I should just create my own."

Cover Artist

Splash Page welcomes Ed Tadem to our cover artist family (our custom-designed theme up top). Currently working on the forthcoming "Avengers" animated series, Tadem's work can also be seen in the "Jackie Karma" issues of Image's "'76," and in "Pop Gun, Volume 1." Ed Tadem can be found online at EdTadem.com.